Harbin: Songhua River

We spent the afternoon of our second day in Harbin playing on the frozen Songhua River. The river is coated with over 3 feet of ice (~1 meter) in early November and remains this way until April each year.

I'm told the Songhua has more visitors in the winter than the summer. It's hard to argue with this statement when you witness the hundreds of people skating, sliding, and riding dog or horse drawn sleds on the surface. There were even a few brave souls who thought swimming in a carved out pool was a good idea. While I did once go skinny dipping in a lake in January while in college, I thought better of it this time around. And I hadn't consumed nearly as much beer.

There were a few of these cute Arctic foxes that you could pay to hold, but as I am against animal tourism (unless it serves as a rehabilitation or research center), I opted not to cuddle these furry critters.

Walking on the river is free though I'd recommending paying to ride one of the slides near the entrance. It will pop you out among the main action and give you a reason to squeal for a few minutes.